Asia

LAHORE: Addressing the JI workers at Mansoorah on Friday, he said the government must issue directions to the banks to take back their appeals against the Federal Shariat Court’s decision against interest. Despite the government’s announcement, he said, 14 appeals were yet to be withdrawn, creating an impression that the rulers were reluctant to fulfill their commitment. Haq said the interest-based economy was a violation of the Constitution and added that Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had issued clear directions to introduce Islamic model of economy while inaugurating the State Bank of Pakistan. Seven decades had passed, yet the rulers had not taken a single step in this direction, he lamented. The JI chief demanded the government introduce the Riba amnesty scheme and buil...

The Chinese communist party in their quest to intimidate large scale businesses and their founders, have begun their long-awaited crackdown on big businesses that refused to endorse the Party’s repressive policies. The recent disappearance of one of the richest men in the world, Jack Ma, is telling of the CCP’s tactics of intimidation through coercive means. This has invariably caused an environment of fear amongst other business owner that had previously raised similar concerns. Valued as one of the largest business groups in the world before the prosecution of Jack Ma, the Ant group was on its way of seeking an IPO of $34 billion in 2020 before it was abruptly stalled by regulators at the behest of the Chinese Communist Party. The sudden halting of the IPO was seen as an indication o...

Hong Kong: Beijing announced the previous week that it would shorten the quarantine periods despite a surge in Covid cases across the manufacturing hub Guangzhou, resulting in the region's lockdown. Also Read Notably, a two-month lockdown of Shanghai's 25 million residents earlier this year and restrictions that dented production at the world's largest iPhone plant in central Zhengzhou city this month underscore China's zeal to quash outbreaks at almost any cost, Channel News Asia reported. "How the government will handle the surge of cases there could be a litmus test for the future of China's zero-COVID policy," Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the US-based Council of Foreign Relations, wrote on Twitter, according to Channel News Asia. Notably, China has be...

A member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the People’s Bank of China has flagged the urgent need to get China’s economy back on track. Photo: Bloomberg China “urgently” needs to get its economy back on track to see it grow by at least 5 per cent next year, according to government advisers who appear to be increasingly concerned amid a property market crisis and Beijing’s strict zero-Covid policy. The world’s second-largest economy has failed to reach its growth potential since Covid-19 took hold nearly three years ago, and “this situation cannot continue”, said Liu Shijin, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the People’s Bank of China. “The urgent priority now is to get the macro economy back on a normal track,” Liu said, speaking on Friday at the 13th Caixin Summit i...

“I’ll run out of money soon if there’s no new investment,” said the founder, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the topic. “It is not as easy as two years ago, when [former US president Donald] Trump first started to impose sanctions on the industry and largely hyped up the semiconductor investment circle in China,” he told the South China Morning Post. The start-up founder is just one of many Chinese chip entrepreneurs trying to find shelter from the storm that has hit the country’s chip industry. The galvanisation of the industry that came in the face of earlier US sanctions has turned to desperation after Washington ratcheted up restrictions. Now, all Chinese chip companies are bracing for a tough year ahead. In 2020, when Washington blacklisted dozens of Chin...

Moscow, Russia:Addressing a press briefing alongside the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Jaishnkar said he exchanged views on international issues with the Russian side, in which the Ukraine conflict was the dominant feature. Laying out India’s position on the Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar said, “As Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to Russian President Putin: this is not an era of war. The global economy is simply too interdependent for significant conflict anywhere not to have major consequences elsewhere.”“We are seeing growing concerns on the energy and food security, emanating from the conflict, that are coming on top of severe stresses created by two years of Covid,” he said.Jaishankar further said the impact of Ukraine’s conflict is being severely felt by the glob...

SINGAPORE - Brent crude futures dropped US$1.20, or 1.2 per cent, to US$97.37 a barrel by 0227 GMT, after hitting as low as US$96.50 earlier. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at US$91.24 a barrel, down US$1.37, or 1.5 per cent, dropping to a session low of US$90.40 a barrel earlier. “Oil prices dropped sharply as Chinese officials vowed to stick to the Covid-zero policy while infected cases climbed in China, which may cause more restrictions.... darkening the demand outlook,” CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng said. Four Federal Reserve policymakers last Friday indicated they would still consider a smaller interest rate hike at their next policy meeting despite strong jobs data. Brent and WTI rose last week, up 2.9 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively, as rumours of a p...

Cambodia’s continued reliance on China for various needs has put to test its efforts for shedding the image of China’s proxy. Various observers point towards the strategic pitfalls for the South East Asian country due to outsized Chinese influence on its economy, policy and security matters. The ever-increasing Chinese debt on the country serves as a major red flag for them. Cambodia’s external debt which was more than $9 billion in 2021 is expected to cross $10 billion by the end of 2022. More alarming is the fact that more than 40 per cent of it is believed to be owed to China; making the country quite vulnerable to Chinese debt policy. Moreover, China remains Cambodia’s largest source of imports accounting for more than 30% of its total imports. Analysts also warn about Beijing creatin...

Moscow, Russia: The talks between Manturov and Jaishankar were held in the format of India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC). "A dynamic growth of bilateral trade turnover was noted, which, by the end of this year, may come close to the goal set by the leaders of the two countries - 30 billion USD," the Russian embassy said in a statement. Denis Manturov, who is also Russia's Minister of Industry and Trade, said relations with India can be described as a special privileged strategic partnership and they are of prime importance to Moscow. He added that despite pressure from Western countries, both nations are able to maintain the intensity of bilateral cooperation. "Despite Western pressure, w...

According to Ting Lu, a China economist chief said, "The actual economic recovery momentum is not strong." The Chinese economy is also facing the brunt of harsh COVID lockdowns and restrictions. The scenario of the Chinese economy has become upside down after the pandemic. Before the pandemic, the Chinese economy grew by 7.7 per cent on average each year, however, there are concerns that China may not be able to reach 3 per cent annual growth now, reported Financial Post. Furthermore, to compete with the US, China must clock at least 5 per cent growth if it wants to displace the US from the rank one. The reasons for China's growth trajectory derailment are poor productivity, weakening human resource power, and burgeoning debt. This will lay a negative impact on China's aspirations as a...